New Orleans mayor says thanks to Houston for helping...

March 06, 2006

New Orleans mayor says thanks to Houston for helping evacuees HOUSTON (AP) -- New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin thanked Texans during the weekend for the support they have given to Hurricane Katrina evacuees and asked them to help the refugees vote in his city's primary election April 22. Nagin addressed the congregation of Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church on Sunday, expressing gratitude for what they and other Houstonians had done for New Orleans residents who had to relocate after the hurricane. "New Orleans is coming back. Sometimes God has to do certain things to kind of clear the way for you to get to a better place," Nagin said at the church, one of several he visited. "He's been working on us really hard over the past six months." Houston became home to more than 150,000 Katrina evacuees. Homeless man sleeping in park kicked, set on fire in Boston BOSTON (AP) -- A homeless man sleeping in a park was attacked early Sunday by two men who kicked him in the stomach and then set him on fire, police said. No arrests were made and police gave no indication of what might have motivated the attack. The 30-year-old homeless man, whose name was not released, told police he was awakened by the men kicking him in Langone Park in the city's North End. He drifted back to sleep after the assault, but the men returned, drenched him with a flammable liquid and set his legs on fire, police said. A 911 caller reported flames in the park, and firefighters found the man wrapped in a blanket after he had ripped off some of his burning clothes. The victim was treated at Massachusetts General Hospital for burns to his legs. Nationally, the number of assaults against the homeless has risen dramatically since 2002, according to a recent report by the National Coalition for the Homeless. In 2005, 73 homeless people were assaulted nationwide and 13 died, the report said. Last August, a 40-year-old homeless man died in Boston after he was beaten. Two teenagers have been charged with manslaughter. In Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in January, a homeless man was beaten to death the same night a surveillance camera captured two people assaulting a homeless man with a baseball bat. A third homeless man was bludgeoned nearby with a golf club. Three teenagers have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder. Hamas tries to distance itself from remarks made by al-Zawahri CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Hamas officials shrugged off the support offered by al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, saying Sunday the Palestinian militant group has a different ideology than the terror network and won election through a moderate approach to Islam. In a video aired Saturday by Al-Jazeera, Ayman al-Zawahri called for jihad, or holy war, to reclaim Palestinian lands and implied al-Qaida's support for Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel despite international pressure since the militant Islamic group swept parliamentary elections in January. A Hamas official in Gaza, speaking on condition of anonymity because the movement did not want to formally respond to al-Zawahri's support, said: "Hamas believes that Islam is completely different to the ideology of Mr. al-Zawahri." Hamas is setting up a new Palestinian Cabinet after defeating Fatah, which had ruled Palestinian politics for four decades. Hamas does not accept the presence of a Jewish state in the Mideast and has sent dozens of suicide bombers into Israel. The United States and European Union consider Hamas a terrorist organization. Al-Zawahri complained in the videotape that the previous Palestinian leaderships "sold Palestine" through peace agreements in Oslo and Madrid and the U.S.-backed road map peace plan. China delays next space mission in order to prepare for spacewalk BEIJING (AP) -- China's third manned space mission has been pushed back by about six months to 2008 to give scientists time to create a spacesuit that can withstand a spacewalk, state-run media reported Sunday. The government said last year that the Shenzhou 7 craft would launch sometime in 2007, though no date was given. It said the mission would be manned by three astronauts and include a spacewalk -- a first for China's space program. "There is nothing wrong. We just need more time to prepare for the mission," Huang Chunping, chief consultant for China's manned launching vehicle system, was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency. China launched its first manned space mission in 2003, making it the third country to send a human into orbit on its own, after Russia and the United States. A second, longer mission carrying two astronauts was completed last year.